Requesting information under the Environmental Information Regulations

You can request information about the environment under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs). This can include information relating to air, water, land, natural sites, flora and fauna and decisions or activities affecting any of these.

Communities and Local Government must supply information within 20 working days of your request, if possible. If not, we will write to you explaining the reasons for the delay. And we will keep you informed about the progress of your request.

Making a request

You can make an EIR request in writing (email, fax or letter) or by phone. You can find contact details for the different areas of Communities and Local Government in the contact us section of this site. If you can't find a relevant section of the Department, use our general email address.

Exceptions

The Regulations allow some information to be withheld, to protect various interests. If this is the case with the information you have requested, we will give you a refusal in writing, along with the reasons for refusal and details of the right to appeal.

Areas of information for which exceptions may apply include (but are not limited to):

national security and defence
legal proceedings, enquiries or investigations
confidential deliberations
commercial confidentiality or information that is otherwise confidential
incomplete documents or internal communications

A request may also be refused if it is unreasonable or too general.

All exceptions require the 'public interest' test to be applied before the information can be withheld. This means that if it is considered to be in the public interest, the information will be released.